With an undergraduate degree in history and a master’s degree from the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia, Malcolm Brogdon has known for some time he would expand his contributions to this world beyond the borders of a basketball court.

But last year the second-round pick was in the hunt for the NBA rookie of the year honor – which he won – and a playoff drive for the Milwaukee Bucks, and these two pursuits commanded his full focus.

Now with a year under his belt and some time on his hands while he rehabilitates his injured quadriceps, Brogdon saw an opportunity to also get on board with a philanthropic cause.

So he threw his support behind PureMadi, a nonprofit organization that helps develop ceramic water filters for people in South Africa who need clean water.

“I think it’s important to do this right now,” said Brogdon recently after he put in extra work after practice. “I’m the former rookie of the year; when I say stuff I’m more fresh on people’s minds. This injury really presented an opportunity for me to get in to that. Now I’m sitting at home, I’m not traveling. I could dive in to other things a bit deeper.”

Brogdon first became aware of PureMadi – madi means water in Tshivenda, the official language of South Africa – in his final year in college, when he wrote his thesis on the organization. Students and faculty at Virginia formed an alliance with the University of Venda in Thohoyandou, South Africa, and Rotary International to present this water cleansing technology for communities in the Limpopo Province.

Having learned a little about PureMadi, Brogdon also became in another clean water-providing project by fellow UVA alum Chris Long. The defensive end for the Philadelphia Eagles also is very involved with his own organization, Waterboys, and Brogdon said Long just returned from another visit to South Africa following the Eagles' Super Bowl victory. Waterboys digs wells to provide water.

“He’s basically agreed to let me be the partner for the NBA,” said Brogdon. “It’s an honor to be a part of what Chris is doing. He’s an amazing guy.”

Why Africa? Brogdon first traveled to Ghana at the age of 9 with his family and, in seeing great poverty in places and times during that visit, the trip changed changed him. But he didn’t expect the same kind of need in South Africa.

“But really they have a lot of poverty there as well; people need help,” said Brogdon. “PureMadi was a perfect gateway for me to be involved.”

Brogdon said he appreciated the ceramic water filtration system because it is provided a solution to the community based on resources that were already available.

“My big thing is not only about helping provide clean water and food and to help fight poverty but providing methods that are sustainable,” said Brogdon. “I think a lot of the problem with foreign aid and things like that is you go in, give a bunch of stuff, and then it runs out. It’s about helping them learn how to continue to be sustainable and live.”

Brogdon’s next goal is to make a connection between PureMadi and Waterboys. After the NBA season ends, Brogdon hopes to accompany Long to South Africa to see the efforts of the programs for himself. Brogdon said Long goes two or three times every off-season.

“He takes friends and teammates over to hike (Mount) Kilimanjaro (in Tanzania) and then to go see prospective villages, to meet the people,” said Brogdon. “That’s really where people get attached; they see where people are struggling. They want to contribute and be a part of it.

“I’m already totally locked in but I would like to go over and actually interact. I think Africa is the most interesting continent on the planet. You look at a country like Egypt and you look at a country like Ghana. It’s just completely different and the people look completely different. It’s just a fascinating continent with the most culture.”